covalence
/koʊˈveɪləns/
noun
- The number of covalent bonds an atom can form with other atoms.
- Carbon has a covalence of four, allowing it to form bonds with many different elements.
- In chemistry class, we learned how to calculate the covalence of an element based on its electron configuration.
- The covalence of oxygen is two, which is why water molecules have two hydrogen atoms.